Date: Fri, 26 Jan 1996 17:30:17 +0100 (MET)
From: skolander@bahnhof.se (Bjoern Skolander)
Subject: SWEDEN: LESBIAN CELEBRITY MARRIAGE - UPDATE
SWEDEN: LESBIAN CELEBRITY MARRIAGE - UPDATE
- It is wonderful to be married, said rockstar Eva Dahlgren (35) when she
left the marriage party late this night accompanied by her wife singer Efva
Attling (43).
At 4 pm, January 25, the couple said yes to each other in a plain
fisherman's cabin on the island Tynningsoe in the Stockholm archipelago.
Only a few close friends were present at the Registered Partnership
ceremony.
Later the marriage was celebrated in the house of the lesbian couple
author Louise Boije af Gennaes and journalist Mian Lodalen. Among the
guests were another of Sweden's rockstars, the female Roxette-singer
Marie Fredriksson accompanied by her husband Micke Bolyos. Present
was also out actor and singer Rikard Wolff, who has meant a lot for the
visibility of gays in Sweden during the last few years.
After having spent the night dancing to the tunes of Los Lobos, Simple
Red and Lenny Krawitz, Dahlgren and Attling left the party for a suite at
Grand Hotel in central Stockholm. The couple will celebrate their
honeymoon in Thailand.
The event has got much media attention. Today the two major tabloids
(Aftonbladet and Expressen) devote the frontpage and several more
pages to the marriage. Aftonbladet has contacted 20 Swedish celebrities
for their reaction to the couples decision to make their love public, like
Army of Lover's Dominika Peczynski and Camilla Henemark, Andreas
Carlgren (out gay politician), Staffan Hildebrand (out bisexual filmmaker),
and singer Dr. Alban.
The general reaction is that Dahlgren and Attling has taken a very
courageous decision. An opinion which is seconded by RFSL-chairman
Haakan Andersson.
- They are making lesbian love visible. This event is a milestone in the
Swedish gay and lesbian history, Andersson says to Aftonbladet.
RFSL's vice-chairman Cecilia Berggren was more restricted in her joy
when she yesterday night on the TV show Black and White commented
on the marriage.
- I am really happy on their behalf. And I believe their marriage will be an
important manifistation, especially for young gays and lesbians. Personally,
I will not register my partnership, as the present law is discriminating
against homosexuals. When I am going to marry, I want a marriage which
is equal to heterosexual marriage in all areas.
Berggren is referring to the fact that the present Registered Partnership
Law is not giving same-sex couples the right to adoption and insemination.
A fact that probably is more significant to lesbians than to gay men.
Berggrens's statement could also be regarded as the direction for RFSL's
future political work.
Report by Bjoern Skolander
Sources: Aftonbladet and Expressen, January 26, 1996.